When God tested Abraham's faith, he waited until Abraham had raised a knife over Isaac's bound body as he was about to slay his only son. Then God intervened with a blessed reprieve and said in Genesis 22:12:
"Do not lay a hand on the boy.... Now I know that you fear God."
Curious, isn't it, this response from God? Didn't an all-knowing God perceive Abraham's faith without having to see it in action? But then, from God's point of view, is faith really faith if it is not visible?
When Jesus healed the paralytic whose friends had lowered him through the roof of the house, the text in Luke 5:20 reveals a similar response by Jesus:
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friends, your sins are forgiven."
Again, Jesus praises, not just their faith, but the visible evidence of their faith. God doesn't want to have to comb the hidden depths of our hearts to see our faith. He wants to see it in our life.
These real life stories give flesh and bones confirmation to the teaching in James 2:14-26 that faith without action is not faith in the sight of God. He wants to see it.
And I think it parallels the idea of not hiding your light under a bushel. (Matthew 5:14-16) Sometimes we read this passage thinking it is just the world around us that God wants us to shine our light for, but I think most of all, He wants to see it for himself!
I think faith in action helps our own hearts too! Perhaps if Abraham had never been tested, he never would have known the depths of his love for God - and we would never have his example to follow.
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